Monty Halls is a writer, explorer, television presenter and public speaker. A former Royal Marines officer who worked for Nelson Mandela on the peace process in South Africa, he left the services in 1996 to pursue a career in leading expeditions. Having achieved a First Class Honors degree in marine biology, over the next decade he circumnavigated the globe four times on various projects, leading multi-national teams in some of the most demanding environments on earth. Notable expeditions included an anti poaching project in the high montane grasslands of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, the discovery of a sunken city off the coast of Tamil Nadu in India, and a (successful) attempt to find and photograph a rare crocodile species in the mountain pools of the Raspaculo Basin in Central America. In 2002 he was awarded the Bish Medal by the Scientific Exploration Society for his services to exploration.
His television career began when he won Channel Four’s Superhuman competition in 2004. Since then he has presented series and documentaries for the Discovery Channel, The National Geographic Channel, BBC1 and BBC2, Channel 4, and the History Channel. His latest projects have been on the west coast of Scotland, where he lived in a tiny bothy on a beach for six months, following in the footsteps of his hero Gavin Maxwell. This series aired on BBC2 in 2009 as "Monty Halls Great Escape", hitting viewing figures of over 3 million. He returned in early 2010 from a further six months as a nature ranger in the Outer Hebrides, an experience recorded for the second series on BBC2 called - catchily - "Monty Halls Great Hebridean Escape".
He continues to run expeditions and diving trips when he has the time between speaking engagements and filming projects. He has written four books, mainly on diving and the marine environment. His hobbies include playing the guitar and playing rugby - both to a mind bogglingly low standard. In the latter he has two shot knees, no pace, and doesn't like tackling and yet remains resolutely optimistic concerning his call up to the national squad.